Dialects translates into a helpful iPhone app

Dialects is a cool app for those times when you’re traveling, and need to translate something quickly. From Big Hill Software, Dialects, lets you choose any two languages to translate between. It then takes the most common types of questions you would ask if you were traveling. You don’t have to lug an extra travel […]

Dialects is a cool app for those times when you’re traveling, and need to translate something quickly.

From Big Hill Software, Dialects, lets you choose any two languages to translate between. It then takes the most common types of questions you would ask if you were traveling. You don’t have to lug an extra travel book around, or worry about mispronouncing something. All the translations happen on your phone. You just hold it, and the screen will orient itself to the reader.

Here’s how it works. You type a question in your language, and when you select “Ask,” the phone screen flips toward the other person, who can read it in his or her language. It’s brilliant! The fact that it supports 55 languages is a nice bonus. And you can pick any two languages, which makes this an ideal international app. This way, you don’t have to give your phone to a perfect stranger. It’s a nice feature.

The only minor shortcoming in the app that I see is that some of the translations are word for word. In other words, it gets the job done and makes sense, but you wouldn’t say it that way. But for the purposes of a quick translation so you can get on your way, Dialects does the trick!